If anyone has any doubts about the ability of cost/benefit analysis to come up with any sort of desired result, see:
Ackerman, Frank and Lisa Heinzerling. 2004. Priceless: On Knowing the Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing (NY: New Press). Here is a sample: 2: "Some places have banned cell phone use while driving. Others have used laws already on the books -- even homicide laws -- to try to get at the problem. Some of the country's most influential economists, however -- based on research conducted with the help of generous funding from wireless providers -- have concluded these restrictions are a bad idea." [Hahn, Robert W., Paul C. Tetlock, and Jason K. Burnett. 2000. "Should You Be Allowed to Use Your Cellular Phone While Driving?" Regulation, 23, 3; Hahn, Robert W. and Paul C. Tetlock. 1999. "The Economics of Regulating Cellular Phones in Vehicles." AEl-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, Working Paper 99-9 (October); Redelmeier, Donald A. and Milton C. Weinstein. 1999. "Cost-Effectiveness of Regulations against Using a Cellular Telephone while Driving." Medical Decision Making, 19: 1 (January-March); Cohen, Joshua, et al. Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. 2000. Cellular Phones and Driving: Weighing the Risks and Benefits." Risk in Perspective, 8 (July): pp. 1-6 (funded with $300,000 grant from AT&T Wireless Communications).] 2: "Why? Because the people who are talking while driving are willing to pay a lot to talk on the phone -- more than many people who face deadly risks are willing to pay to avoid the risk of being killed. What these researchers have done is compare the price of phone calls made while driving with the "price" of deadly risks. Since risk is not, like cell phones and calling plans, directly bought and sold in the marketplace, economists have tried to find places where it is sold indirectly. They have focused mainly on risky workplaces, where extra wages are, in theory, required to convince workers to accept increased risks of death. In comparing levels of wages and risk, economists have estimated that groups of workers doing dangerous jobs are paid, on average, a total of about $5-6 million more, per work-related death. By comparing the price of cell phone use with this "price" of risky work, economists have concluded that banning cell phone use in cars makes no economic sense." -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
